We absolutely love games which make use of all the gadgets on our phone and TrailHit does just that… it’s taken the satellite view and compass in Google Maps and turned it into a game! Check out what we thought of this new concept below…

Gameplay: The main game option is called “Trails” – this loads Google maps in the satellite view and automatically populates your immediate vicinity with packages. You need to get physically close to the packages so that you can click on them within the map on your phone. If you’re within range then you’ll collect the package and hopefully you’ll get a scroll piece. The aim of the game is to collect all the pieces to complete a scroll. After a scroll is done you’ll have a QR code which you can then scan to link you to a reward. There are about 12 to 13 scrolls, and each scroll has 36 pieces… in addition to this, you can pick up duplicate pieces… so there’s stacks of collecting gameplay here!

Aside from the “Trails” option, there’s also a section called “Shadowy Trails” which doesn’t need you to go out into the cold. Instead you can stay in the comfort of your own house and navigate around a map to search for treasures. In case you think this sounds like its searching for a needle in a haystack, it’s not quite like that because there’s a distance tracker which will indicate your distance from the closest item. In this game mode though, the treasure is pretty poor: you get a mini picture, a tacky message, and if you’re lucky you’ll get some gold. In other words the rewards are dumbed down significantly (as you need lots of gold to exchange it for one scroll piece!)

Overall package: The theming is a tad difficult to understand… there’s an odd alien with Irish (or leprechaun) stylisation and then there are the medieval mythical scrolls which are combined with zodiac symbols. So the game is kind of everywhere and is slightly confusing at the beginning. Images and music are good though, and after you get used to the menu navigation the game is quite enjoyable.

Trail Blazing fun: The “Trail” interface can be slightly flaky, but after it loads, it’s pretty clear what you need to do. Initially it had us walking around to the next targets, but quickly we realised that it was much more exciting to run to the next spot. A perfect afternoon family game and ideal for little people!

Rating: 3/5 TrailHit is a fresh and innovative game which gets you out of the house and moving around. It should be a hit for those players who like going outdoors and enjoy hiking or travelling. We’d like to say it’s going to be a healthy exercise game, but we know you could equally play this game whilst cruising around and enjoying your car ;) Download this free game and watch the developers grow and enhance their product!

TrailHit Promotional Youtube Video

TrailHit Tips from Android Games Review

When you first start the game there’s no explanation of anything… but here’s our quick brief for when you play the game:

“Trails” is the main gameplay option. This gives you the most in game rewards and is the main way to collect scroll pieces.

“Shadowy Trails” is only a side game. You’re generally only rewarded with gold, but you can play this part of the game without moving. The money can be used to buy scroll pieces.

“Scrollbook” is for checking your progress, and lets you know which pieces you do and don’t have.

“Wheel of Scrolls” is an overview of which scrolls you still need to obtain.

Be careful when selecting “Trails” because after the game connects and completes populating the map, the packages will stay in position for 24 hours. That means that if you move to another location within this time period, you’ll see no new packages. In order to force a redistribution of packages you’d need to use some crystals.

In other words, this means that you should make sure that you’re in position to play this game when you start “Trails” (i.e. you can walk around in your area). If you load up the game whilst you’re travelling or you’re in a place where you won’t have time to walk around, then you’re pretty much screwed… you’ll need to wait 24 hours for the packages to disintegrate and so new ones can be loaded.

The main “Trails” game option relies on a decent GPS signal, and a good mobile internet data connection (because it will grab map information from Google Maps and get reward information from the internet). So try and find a place which has both of these.

We emphasise mobile internet connection because you need to move around, and the distance you travel is quite likely to be further than your wifi range.

If your screen is stuck on the “Searching for GPS screen”, then try loading Google Maps to see if it’s working. If that loads fine, then the delay is perhaps the communication between your phone and the TrailHit servers.

If you need more crystals quickly, you can do two things.

You can goto the settings menu and add a referrer (randomly grab a trail code from the Android Market comments)

Or you can give the game a rating on the Android Market, leaving your trail code.

Trail Hit with Papaya QR Code
(Click on the image or scan the barcode with your Android phone to goto the Android Market

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